If you haven't read the prelude or the previous chapters you might want to scroll down and read them. Please let me know what you think.SYNOPSIS: Jason Franco is an aspiring novelist stuck in a dead-end job working for a newspaper in a small town where nothing exciting happens until someone rapes and murders a young woman only eighteen years old. All evidence points to the woman's boyfriend who confesses to the crime. Jason is assigned to write a follow-up story for the paper and soon suspects that the local police are covering up for one of their own. Jason enlists the help from a high school classmate who works at the state crime and the two soon fall in love. Jason and his girlfriend, Tina, follow the leads, and Jason finds himself a target for the rapist turned murderer. An attempt on Jason's life puts him in the hospital as the alleged rapist commits suicide. An unexpected turn of events put Jason back in the cross hairs of a different killer.Austin Bridges, Eye WitnessMonday, July 13, 2015Monday morning Tina called Jason. “The evidence isn’t here.”“What? What are you talking about?”“We got all the evidence from the Littlefield murder. The pubic hairs are missing.”Jason let Tina’s remarks sink in. “Holy crap! What do you mean the pubic hairs are missing? That’s the crucial piece. What happened?”“I’m just calling to give you a heads up. The Attorney General knows, and he’s pissed. He may have the TPD investigated. A press release will come out later today. Gotta go. Love you. Bye.”Jason was in shock. He was sure when the pubic hairs were tested, it would free Paulo. Now that plan was falling apart he told Sean.Sean called Mary and Zac in and repeated what Jason said. “I guess our victory celebration was premature,” said Sean. “When the press release comes, we’ll run it word for word on the front page.” He shook his head. “What a disaster.”The mood around the office was very sober for the rest of the day. Zac checked the Attorney General website every thirty minutes until the press release was posted. When it was, he printed it and read it out loud.“Attorney General Bryan Freeman today has directed the Goshen County District Attorney to conduct a full investigation into the Torrington Police Department’s handling of the evidence in the murder of Angelina Littlefield. This decision was prompted after the discovery that a key piece of evidence from the case is missing. The Attorney General had earlier requested the Goshen County DA to send all evidence on the Angelina Littlefield murder case to the State Police Crime Laboratory. Upon examination of the evidence at the crime lab, a key piece of evidence was missing. The Torrington Police have no explanation on the missing evidence. Ms. Angelina Littlefield was murdered on August 15, 2012. Mr. Paulo McAdams, her boyfriend, was arrested and charged with her murder. He agreed to a plea bargain and was convicted. Attorney General Freeman said that irregularities in the handling of the evidence by the local police could result in a retrial. The Goshen DA will submit all findings to a Grand Jury.”Everyone was silent. After a moment, Jason asked, “Does that mean we’re back to square one? I mean Paulo might get a new trial, right?”“I wouldn’t count on it,” said Sean. “The investigation could take weeks. It might be just a PR stunt by the Attorney General to take pressure off his office. If the pressure lets up, there won’t be a retrial.”“Do you think the TPD just lost the evidence; that it was an honest mistake?” asked Mary.Sean thought for a moment. “No. I wanted to believe that the police weren’t involved. I wanted to believe Jeri Cruse. I gave him several chances. Now with this stunt, the police are covering up. They must know who the murderer is, and they’re protecting him. It could be one of their own. Jeri both knows and is covering up or he is incompetent. ”“Holy crap! Now what?” asked Jason.Sean thought for a moment. “We have to find a witness.”Zac interrupted. “I may have something. I’ve been going through the email from our website. We have so many lately that it’s hard to keep up. But I found one from a guy who says he saw something the night Angie was murdered. And get this – he lives across the street.”“I’m on it,” said Jason as he headed for his desk. “Show me Zac.”Jason read the e-mail and called the sender, a Mr. Austin Bridges. He agreed to meet Jason after work at his house. Jason drove over to the house. Austin Bridges was a middle aged gentleman. He had lived at that address nearly twenty years. After introductions, he invited Jason into his home. He lived alone.Jason got right to the point. “Mr. Bridges you said you saw something the night that Angelina Littlefield was killed.”“Damn right. Call me Austin.”“What did you see?”“Well I go to bed right at eleven pm. Always have. I’ve a regular routine. I watch the news until ten thirty. Then my dog, Scooter, and I go out to the front yard.” Mr. Bridges pointed to a pile of fur sleeping in a dog bed. “That’s my dog, Scooter. As I was saying, the weather comes on at that time and I don’t care much about the weather. I mean, there’s always going to be weather, right? I grab a smoke, and we come back inside in time for the sports news around ten forty. At eleven I go to bed.”“Do you recall what you saw?”“Darn tooting. I saw a car parked in the Littlefield driveway. Now I know who Paulo is and I know his car. He parks it there nearly every night during the summer. That’s why I thought it was odd.”“What do you mean?”“I never saw this car before. It was white. Paulo’s car is green, dark green.”“How long was it there?”“I don’t know for sure but it was there the whole time I was outside with Scooter, ten thirty to ten forty. Afterwards, I came inside and didn’t pay attention anymore.”“Do you recall what make of car?”“I don’t know the model but it was a white, four door sedan.”“You didn’t see anyone? Hear anything?”“Nope. Just saw the car parked there.”“Did you tell the police?”“Well no. I was going to, but a few days later, Paulo confessed. After that, I didn’t see any point in reporting it. It was probably nothing anyway.”“Austin, what you've told me is vital information. Would you be willing to repeat your story to the District Attorney?”“Why sure--anytime. Do you think it’s important?”“Yes sir, I do. At this point you shouldn't say anything to anyone until we contact the DA.”After a few more questions for background information Jason left. Back at the office he let Sean listen to his pocket recorder. “What do you think?”“I don’t know. We’ll share this with the DA but I’m not sure it’s enough.”“What do you mean?” asked Jason.“Well, this was over a year ago. A lot of folks own white cars. The ME said that Angelina was murdered between ten and ten thirty. It might be hard to claim that this car was driven by the murderer.”After a few minutes, Jason said, “Maybe Zac can figure the exact time of the murder from the photographs on Angelina’s phone.”“Good idea,” said Sean. “Do you agree that it might have been a police officer?”“Yes, I do. We can't trust chief Cruse any more. Like you said, he might be covering for one of his officers. Right now officer Rudd is at the top of my list. We won’t know for sure unless we obtain DNA samples from every officer.”“The first rape was in 2007. Rudd would have been seventeen or eighteen. Did he start raping women then?”“Yes, I believe so.”“A couple of rapes happened while he was in the Army.”“Maybe he didn't commit those.”Sean chuckled. “I doubt the TPD will volunteer to provide their DNA. So how do we want to proceed?”Jason thought for a moment. “I guess we need to obtain their DNA secretly.”“Jason, that's lot of people. Plus, it might be illegal.”“I know but I don’t see any other way.”“Wait. I’ve an idea. Mary, come in here please.” Mary ambled into Sean’s office. “Mary, what’s the name of your friend in the TPD?”“You mean Natalie Hathaway. She’s the administrative assistant for the Chief.”“Yeah, that’s the one. How close are you two?”“She’s my BFF,” answered Mary. “If you paid attention, you'd know that. We eat lunch together most days in the park by the water tower. Why?”“Would she be willing to help us solve this murder?”“She might.”“Good,” said Sean. Sean explained what he had in mind. “Tell her to meet you for lunch tomorrow in the park. Don't mention Jason and me and don't tell her anything yet. Jason and I’ll talk to her.”####